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Will Be Impossible for Them

Ministry is like herding cats to safety away from the cliff of culture that is crumbling beneath their paws.  In the Tower of Babel story in Genesis 11:1-9, God reveals a spiritual insight in verse 6 that can help the church move forward: “And the LORD said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do.  And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.'”

I.  Luke 22:31-32.  Told to fill the earth, mankind stayed all together and wanted to make a name for themselves rather than glorify God’s name.  In this behind-the-scenes heavenly insight similar to Job 2:3-5 or 1 Kings 22:19-23, God tells us that we should not put limitations upon what we can do in His kingdom for His name.  Yet, beaten down by the world, the church keeps the gospel contained within the walls of our buildings.

II.  Ephesians 4:1-16.  It takes unity to do so.  If Christians today were united as one people of God and spoke the one language of His Word, then we could have the unity of the Spirit centered around the seven “ones” of this passage.  If we could “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” to “the fullness of Christ,” then what we’ve already done as the church would be the beginning of what we would do.

III.  John 14:12-14.  We believe that “with man it is impossible” (Mark 10:27) rather than “all things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23) and so shrink back (Hebrews 10:39).  We must believe that Jesus can with us and our churches and ask in His name so He can do it.  And then we must live the impossible with others by doing all, in word or deed, in His name (Colossians 3:17) every moment of every day of our lives.

What can we do together to make a name for God and not ourselves?  … if we were united in Christ with one direction, purpose, and goal?  … if we believed that God could do the impossible through us working together?

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And They Prayed

One hymn we sing brings prayer into a never-ceasing part of our daily lives by asking us four questions:

Ere you left your room this morning, Did you think to pray?

When you met with great temptation, Did you think to pray?

When your heart was filled with anger, Did you think to pray?

When sore trials came upon you, Did you think to pray?

I. Acts 1:1-26.  Told to wait in their time of transition, God’s people prayed.  For about ten days, Jesus’ followers waited for the Holy Spirit to come upon them, and in that time they decided to find a replacement for Judas.  Rather than just picking someone whom everyone liked and might give their group a morale boost after Jesus had ascended, they prayed about it first, and prayer characterized Christians’ lives throughout Acts.  So, we who are waiting for our coming transition to eternity when Jesus returns (Hebrews 9:27-28) ought to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

II. John 14:12-14.  When God’s people don’t inquire of Him, bad things happen (Joshua 9:14-15).  On the other hand, we have record of great encouragement and growth when they do (Acts 4:31).  Jesus invites us to submit to Him in prayer, promising that He’ll do what is within God’s will and not our own (James 4:3-4), so that glory will go to the Father.  It pleases God when we pray without ceasing for ourselves and others to be filled with the knowledge of His will and are saved (Colossians 1:9-10).  But, we have to believe that God will work powerfully through our prayers for His purpose.

III. 1 Timothy 2:1-4.  We have to believe that powerful things will happen when His people pray.  When the Israelites sinned with the golden calf, Moses prayed, recognizing that their only distinction from other peoples in the world, was God’s presence working powerfully in them and through them (Exodus 33:15-17) and God did all that Moses had asked.  We in the New Testament time are told to intercede on behalf of others in all situations and circumstances because God desires all people to be saved.  So, are you praying that the saved may be strengthened and the lost led to Christ?

Jesus’ church today is a continuation of what we can read about twenty centuries ago.  Since prayer was so much a powerful part of their daily lives, shouldn’t we pray without ceasing as well?

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Should Not Trouble

We want the community to obey the gospel and come into the church, but we don’t want the church to compromise truth and become the culture.  U.S. church attendance has fallen from over 70% around WWII to less than 47% today.  This means that the aging baby boomers (ages 60s through early 80s), who have lived through very challenging societal changes in their decades of life, are the ones filling our pews.  How can the church today hope to grow?

I. Acts 11:19-21.  Antioch saw changes in the church.  Exclusively Jewish in its traditions and knowledge until God opened the door to the gentiles, Jesus’ church was suddenly overwhelmed with believers who had obeyed the gospel but came from a denominational (pagan) and unchurched backgrounds.  Today’s faithful don’t fear opening our buildings to our communities without reason.  During the turbulent ’60s, divisive ’80s, and combative 2000s, the culture deviated from truth while the church held fast but became unrecognizable to each generation.  Sadly, a church that no longer looks like the community it is in soon dies.

II. Acts 15:6-20.  Leaders in Jerusalem told the Antioch church to extend the same grace to those from the outside coming in as God had already given to those who had been in the church.  It was God’s church, not theirs, and He was restoring His fallen tent.  Giving grace means WORK for us as we convert the fallen away, the denominationalists, and the unchurched, who are all products of the current culture we live in.  The easier ways of growth closed off to us, the church must return to the method that worked when it last looked like its communities.

III.  John 15:16-18.  While doing the difficult work of going into our communities and making disciples, we “should not trouble” those escaping the corruption of the world by keeping them from returning to it.  We can extend grace and love as Jesus loves without compromising truth.  If we do this, His church will be forever changed, yes, but it will thrive into the future.

 

 

 

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Make All Grace Abound

When we say that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, we often haven’t counted our blessings.  We want God to give us further grace when we’re not really using what He’s already given us.

I. Matthew 25:27-29.  We must not abuse it or we will lose it.  Saul justified not totally wiping out Amalek per God’s command by believing he could devote some of the plunder to God.  God, however, called this rebellion and rejected Saul as king (1 Samuel 15:20-23).  Likewise are told to invest the grace that God has given us to bring about glory for Him.

II. John 4:23-24.  We must not misuse it or we will lose it.  The prophet Nathan made David aware of his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah and listed all the grace that God had given him, stating that if all that was too little that God would have given him more (2 Samuel 12:7-14).  Likewise we cease to be true worshipers if we stray from either that done in spirit or in truth.

III. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8.  If we do not use it, we will lose it.  As Christians Ananias and Sapphira were given much grace, but when they saw others selling properties and giving the money to the church, they lied about that which was at their disposal (Acts 5:1-4).  How are we using that which God has entrusted to us?  His grace abounds in our lives so we may abound in every good work.

We are participants not spectators in our Christian walks and together as the church in our service to God and others.  Count your blessings.  Are you using or losing what God has given you?

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Not Against Us is For Us

The Titanic sank over a century ago.  The 20 lifeboats, capable of saving only 1178 of the 2208 on board pushed away half-full, saving only 705.  Why didn’t those on them save more?  Perhaps it was fear or lack of preparation in the panic of the survival situation?  Perhaps in their selfishness they judged those not on the lifeboats as either not worthy of saving or that their addition would swamp their vessel of salvation?

Like the ship, this world is sinking to its final destruction.  Each local body of the Lord’s church is a lifeboat that is only partially filled.  Rather than do the Lord’s job of judgment about who can climb in or is excluded, we need to be about ours of encouraging and teaching the way of God more accurately to those who don’t yet know it (Mark 9:38-41).

I.  Matthew 7:13-14.  A spokesman for the disciples posed the situation of a man doing good works in Jesus’ name as a problem because he was not following “us.”  After all, Jesus himself had earlier spoken of the few who were on the narrow path that led to eternal life while the many were heading to destruction.  That is not what Jesus understood was happening.  Where the followers saw this as a situation of division (1 Corinthians 1:10), God in the flesh saw one who was perhaps not yet His follower (2 Peter 3:9).

II.  Acts 19:1-7.  When we see people in other lifeboats or in areas where several local bodies of the Lord’s church meet, those who have gone from our lifeboat to another, we pray that their vessel is sound enough to save them.  But what about those treading the icy water or are just clinging to debris?  When Paul encountered “disciples” who hadn’t heard of the Holy Spirit and knew only John’s baptism, he sought to fill his lifeboat by preaching the gospel.  While maintaining the distinction between “us” and “him,” Jesus told his followers not to stop the man doing good works in His name “for the one who is not against us is for us.”

III.  Acts 18:24-26.  As a Jew, Apollos was not part of the new covenant in Christ, although God had given him many skills and he taught about Jesus as accurately as he knew.  He would be one today that many in their partially-filled lifeboat would uncaringly watch float by while he clung well to a piece of the wreckage.  Not Priscilla and Aquila.  They “took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”  While we dismiss many Apollos-es as not doing the will of the Father, Jesus reminds us that judgment and the giving of rewards is His job (Matthew 7:21-23) while ours is to fill the lifeboat (Matthew 20:18-20).

The way of salvation is indeed narrow and few find it, but it is not up to us to designate who those few are.  Rather, understanding that those who are not against us are for us, are you filling your lifeboat?

 

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Sacrifices to assemble

Heavenly Father, you seek those who seek you. You reward those who pursue your peace. You bless those who open their lives to your hand. I want to be one of those.

Yesterday, in the meetings of the congregations, people were present who had made sacrifices to assemble. Bless them for their efforts. Continue reading “Sacrifices to assemble”

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I shall look upon this day

Holy Father, another day is here. I shall look upon it as a gift of life, as a door of opportunity, as the expression of love.

Oppression, hatred, falsehood, and dishonesty rule the world. We are still surprised by it, although we shouldn’t be. Let your Kingdom, seen now in the people of Christ, be my refuge and safe space.

Carry me beyond the façades of the lost, to enter their emptiness and fear, and deliver to them the peace of eternal hope.

Let me see Jesus who forgot himself in order to save others.

I shall look upon this day, whatever its limitations, as a mission to fulfill.

Jesus is my Lord, the Spirit my helper, your Word my guide and power. Amen.

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God Be With You

Movies do this often.  The final words of a character are often very important.  Having spent three years in Ephesus, it was understandable that when Paul needed to go to certain imprisonment and persecution in Jerusalem, he wanted to speak to the church there.  But, not wanting to be held up long with people he loved, he had the elders trek about 40 miles to the coast to speak to him at Miletus (Acts 20:17-38).  What he said is important for all of us as part of a local body of Christ to minister to one another after a leader has left.

I.  1 Corinthians 12:18-26.  To minister to the flock, you must pay careful attention to the other parts of the body.  None of us is alone as a Christian but have a responsibility to serve, feed, and care for one another.  The first stanza of the hymn, “God Be With You,” explains this:

God be with you till we meet again; By His counsels guide, uphold you, With His sheep securely fold you; God be with you till we meet again.

God has a relationship with each of us, yes, but it is collectively as His bride that He sanctifies us (Ephesians 5:25-32).  We can study His Word and determine to live for him alone, yes, but it is together that are secure and have fellowship with believers who help us keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25).

II.  Matthew 7:15-20.  To minister to the flock, you must watch for wolves from without and within.  Both might be hard to spot as they may appear as friends who tell you exactly what your itching ears delight to hear, so it is by the ‘fruit’ of their lives that you will know them.  The song continues:

God be with you till we meet again; ‘Neath His wings protecting hide you, Daily manna still provide you; God be with you till we meet again.

Satan is the biggest wolf without (1 Peter 5:8), but even he can masquerade as an angel of light.  When warned of the wolf within, Cain still killed his brother (Genesis 4:5-9).  We must protect and provide for each sheep just as Jesus would (Luke 15:4-5).

III.  John 10:2-5.  To minister to the flock, you must first be alert yourself.  Paul considered it his responsibility to minister to his brothers and sisters (2 Corinthians 11:28-29).  So, it is ours, who strive to follow Christ, to help others listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice.  The third verse says it this way:

God be with you till we meet again; Keep love’s banner floating o’er you, Smite death’s threatening wave before you; God be with you till we meet again.

We each have the responsibility of working out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), yes, but we can lighten the loads that others carry by our instruction, encouragement, and concern for them (Galatians 6:1-5).  This is how the body works together.

Goodbye (from “God be w’ ye” or the name of the hymn) is so final, and indeed the elders wept knowing they would never see Paul’s face again … in this life.  You see, for Christians who are parting, even physical death is a temporary separation.  We will all see each other again in heaven for eternity.  Rather, it is ‘So long’ or ‘See you later.’  The song captures this sentiment in the refrain:

Till we meet, till we meet, Till we meet at Jesus’ feet; Till we meet, Till we meet again, God be with you till we meet again. 

 

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Save Those Who are Eagerly Waiting

Why was it so essential that Jesus be seated at the right hand of the Father and that we know that He is coming back?  What is the work of the King of Kings that He does on our behalf as He entered His kingdom?

I.  Colossians 1:9-20.  Jesus is on a rescue mission.  He had to enter His kingdom to deliver us from the dominion of darkness and transfer us to His kingdom.  He accomplishes this through the church (Matthew 16:18), which is His body, which He bought with His blood (Acts 20:28), over which He is head (Ephesians 1:7-23).  We are rescued when we obey the gospel (Acts 2:36-41).

II.  Hebrews 7:23-25.  We need Jesus to intercede for us.  Jesus’ constant work on behalf of those who have obeyed the gospel until the Day of Judgment is to sit at the right hand of the Father as our permanent High Priest and offer intercession for us (Hebrews 9:11-15).  And, it is good that He does as the accuser of our brethren is constantly about his deceitful work (Revelation 12:1-17).

III.  Hebrews 9:23-28.  Because we know that Jesus will return for us (Acts 1:9-11), we must be eagerly waiting for Him.  The time for His redemptive work is done, His sacrifice for sins on the cross and overcoming of death at the tomb accomplished.  He has gone away to prepare a place for us (John 14:1-4), so we must live faithfully, watching and preparing (Matthew 25:1-13).

Jesus has gone away to do His important work of saving us.  Are we about our important work of eagerly waiting for His return?

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Bad Company Corrupts Good Morals

The struggles of this year have certainly tested Christians!  Like tea bags diffusing into the water around them, are we influencing the world for the gospel?  Or are we like sponges instead, soaking up the culture we’re immersed in?

I.  Matthew 5:13-16.  In this world, Christians are called to be salt and light.  Both reach outward into the world around them to change the experience for the person eating or interacting in the world.  So we must flavor, preserve, and shine.  If we don’t, if we hide the truth with which we’ve been entrusted, we are good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled.  If Christians took this charge to influence the world around us for Christ seriously, then others would see and give God glory.

II.  Luke 16:1-13.  Christians must make friends for ourselves by the means of unrighteous wealth.  What?  This parable troubles many because the subject is a dishonest manager who doesn’t change or face judgment for his dishonesty.  Rather, he is commended.  But what is he commended for?  It is for being shrewd in using the things or ways of this world for his advantage.  The key comes in the last few verses when Jesus tells his followers that they can be wise about using their generation’s things for the Kingdom.  Do we do this?  Are we known as some weird folks sequestered within the walls of our church buildings?  Or are we a peculiar people using the technology and campuses–even our time and connectedness–to take to gospel to a lost world?

III.  1 Corinthians 15:17-34.  What separates the saved from the lost is the hope we have in the resurrection.  It is because of this hope that Christians make eternal choices unlike the world that makes temporal choices.  With the unceasing bombardment we get from the world, it is too easy for Christians to want to live like the lost around us Monday through Saturday and then attend church on Sunday–all the while believing that God accepts us in this compromised state.  We must wake up from our slumber, church, and look for the tea we’re diffusing.  Because if we can’t easily see Christ influencing the culture around us, then we are more likely sponges soaking up the world.